Over the course of the next seven years, the spacecraft will perform 24 close flybys of the sun, some of which will bring it within just 3.9 million miles (6.2 million kilometers) of the solar surface. That's well inside the orbit of Mercury, and seven times closer than any other probe has ever gotten to the sun, NASA officials said.

The environment in this region is extreme, to say the least: During its closest encounters, the 10-foot-long (3 meters) Parker Solar Probe is expected to experience temperatures of up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,370 degrees Celsius) and solar radiation intensities 475 times greater than we're used to on Earth.

Mission controllers will therefore retract the Parker Solar Probe's solar arrays as it approaches the sun and extend them as the spacecraft retreats, to keep panel power levels and temperatures from fluctuating too much. And the probe will be outfitted with a 7.5-foot-wide (2.3 m), 4.5-inch-thick (11.4 centimeters) heat shield made of advanced carbon-composite material, which will allow its four science instruments to operate at about room temperature, NASA officials said.

The Parker Solar Probe will perform a number of tasks with this science gear, such as measure the sun's electric and magnetic fields, photograph solar structure and study the solar wind.

Unless I misread it, I understand this probe will not only be the fastest man-made object ever, but will be so by a very significant factor (600,000 kph vs 200,000 at best?).

If that is right could someone explain how will they get it to go three times faster than any previous probe? I thought it took several gravitational slingshots using multiple planets just to get a satellite to anywhere near 200k per hour.

Unless I misread it, I understand this probe will not only be the fastest man-made object ever, but will be so by a very significant factor (600,000 kph vs 200,000 at best?).

If that is right could someone explain how will they get it to go three times faster than any previous probe? I thought it took several gravitational slingshots using multiple planets just to get a satellite to anywhere near 200k per hour.

Click to expand...

Science.

During its closest approach to the sun, the Parker Solar Probe will leave other speedy spacecraft eating metaphorical dust. For comparison, the Voyager 1spacecraft, launched back in 1977, is currently traveling at about 38,000 mph (61,000 km/h), accordi

When it slipped into orbit around Jupiter in July 2016, NASA's Juno probe briefly clocked in at 165,000 mph (266,000 km/h), making it the fastest spacecraft to date. That was achievable thanks, in part, to the gas giant's own gravity — which some sticklers claim is cheating.

However, in terms of so-called heliocentric velocity only — the speed with regard to the sun, without the influence of planets — two other spacecraft currently hold the record: Helios I and II, two 1970s missions that slipped closer to the sun than Mercury is to our star, reaching speeds of about 150,000 mph (241,000 km/h).

But because things orbit faster the closer in, sailing within 4 million miles (6.4 million kilometers) of the visible surface of the sun means that the Parker Solar Probe will almost triple that speed. Better wave goodbye to it while you can.

Gosh. Perhaps they should consider giving future probes going out to the planets a few extra heat shields so they can take a slingshot around the Sun first. At such speeds Mars could be what, 2-4 months away? Handy for re-supplying future colonists/ bases.